Getting back to my recent trip to the Southwest, after visiting my son in Dallas/Fort Worth, we made a fairly drastic detour to the north, to Tulsa, a drive of a little more than four hours. We arrived in the early afternoon, had a quick lunch and then took a private tour of some of Tulsa’s remarkable Art Deco architecture. It was Louis, my first college roommate, a Tulsa native, who first alerted me to the existence of structures worth looking at in Tulsa. I had never thought of Tulsa as a place likely to have much worthwhile to look at until he pointed out that Tulsa was an important center of oil development in the 1920s through the 1950s, and that that meant money. Where there is money, wealthy people seem always to try to outdo each other by building fancy buildings in the latest styles. Tulsa actually makes perfect sense as a place to look for interesting examples of buildings in the Art Deco style.
We did a tour in the cold with Jeffrey, of Tulsa Tours. We began with a look at the Atlas Life Building, which just predates the Art Deco period. The tour begins here to provide a point of reference for the changes in style that would come soon afterward. Highlights included the clock in the lobby with a gold figure of Atlas holding up the world and the coffered ceiling in the lobby. The exterior has neo-Gothic elements and some interesting details, including another figure of Atlas above the entrance. Our guide pointed out that the unusual spaces on either side of the structure were left to ensure good air circulation in the interior spaces, which was a reaction to the deadly Spanish Flu Epidemic that had immediately preceded its construction in 1922. The office building has since been converted into a Marriott hotel.
We next looked at the Southwestern Bell Building, which immediately struck me as odd because it looks like two buildings merged into one and our guide confirmed that it was originally a two-storey building and that four floors were later added on top of the original structure. The lower part of the building is pre-Art Deco. The upper floors begin to show the emerging Art Deco Style with pronounced verticals.
We toured the Philcade Building, an office building at the southeast corner of East 5th Street and South Boston Ave. It was designed by Leon B. Senter, for oilman Waite Phillips. Construction began in 1929. It was completed in 1931. It is noted as an outstanding example of the zig zag style of Art Deco architecture.
The interior was pretty stunning. The photographs speak for themselves, but the guilded ceiling in the lobby and the chandeliers, made locally in Tulsa, are of particular interest. There is some attractive detailing on the exterior as well using stylized flora and fauna and Egyptian motifs. The roofline is decorated with terra cotta designs also showing Egyptian influence. The main entrances are adorned with Egyptian style columns that extend to the second floor. Above the entrances are crests with the initials "WP" (for Waite Phillips) surrounded by carved vines, fruits, and flowers. Also very impressive is some of the metalwork in the lobby near the doors. I particularly liked the windows above some of the interior doors with a design that simultaneously suggests skyscrapers and arrowheads.
The last building we looked at in the immediate downtown area was described as Tulsa’s last Art Deco style building. Today it is known as the ARCO Building (as in the Atlantic Richfield Co.) but it was built in 1949–1950 for the Service Pipeline company and some of its interior decoration subtly alludes to the pipeline business. I loved its green glazed terra cotta exterior, its richly marbled lobby, and its metal elevator doors. Floor levels inlaid into the terrazzo floors at the base of the elevator doors is a nice detail. The doorways have some fairly spectacular aluminum decoration as well.
Moving a little away from the downtown area, we stopped at the Oklahoma Natural Gas Building, the TransOK Building, which housed Tulsa’s electric power utility, and then the Tulsa Club Building and the Pythian Building. The Pythian Building isn’t that much to look at from the outside, but the interior, while rather less fancy than the gleaming interior of the Philcade Building is impressive in its own way. The entire first floor is done in mosaics showing the influence of native American design and in colorful tile work. This was one of the highlights of the tour.
Going further afield, we visited the Tulsa Union Depot, which has some interesting exterior detailing, including stylized falcons and winged train wheels, the Tulsa Fire Alarm Building, the Warehouse Market, and finally the Boston Avenue United Methodist Church.
The Tulsa Fire Alarm Building was a little outside of what would have been the city’s original downtown (to protect it from fire). It was built in 1931. It was the central reporting station for Tulsa’s fire department. Fires were reported from alarm boxes at various locations in the city hardwired to this building from which the fire station closest to the fire would be alerted. Designed by architect Frederick V. Kershner, it was inspired by Mayan temple design, according to Wikipedia. It features terra cotta friezes using fire-related motifs as well as dragons. Over the front door a panel shows a half-naked male figure holding alarm tape (part of the original alarm system used in the building; the tape was punched with a number corresponding to the fire alarm box making the call) flanked by two helmeted firefighters. Bolts of lightning or electricity surround him. To the sides, are images of alarm boxes and fire hoses. According to our guide, the building originally had two large art deco style lanterns flanking the front doorway, but these are now gone. At the back of the building are a number of grotesque figures up by high windows.
, but it has some impressive tile work. It was originally a marketplace for farmers to gather and sell their produce. Later, as it became neglected, it appears to have been put to other uses. Notable are the tower, the elaborate tile work around the entrance, and two roundels on either side of the entrance, one personifying agriculture, the other personifying industry.
Our final stop was to look at the exterior of the Boston Avenue United Methodist Church, which is pretty spectacular. It was built in 1929 and is considered among the most important Art Deco style buildings in the United States. It has a 225-foot tower and a semi-circular apse, which gives it something of the look of a Gothic cathedral (but without the flying buttresses). At the same time, its strong verticals, also suggestive of cathedral design, seem quintessentially Art Deco. It uses a combination of metal, terra cotta, limestone, and granite. Above the south entrance are three equestrian Circuit Riders, statues of early Methodists engaged in spreading the “Good Word.” This building seems way over the top for a religious order not known for ostentation. It’s a bit surprising that such a spectacular design was adopted, but there it is.
By the end of the tour, which was two hours, outside much of the time, on a cold and windy January day, I was happy to get into the car again to head West, but I think the detour to Tulsa was worth it even though we missed many other buildings in the area I would like to have seen – for example, the Will Rogers High School building, where my roommate Louis went to high school. Maybe next time….
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